


Forever

by Brightstone



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Destiny, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 16:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22258903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightstone/pseuds/Brightstone
Summary: And thus, the Boy-Who-Lived who became the Man-Who-Conquered lamented as he became the Last-Man-Standing.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 75





	Forever

LONDON, OCTOBER 31, 2006

The charred sky was choked with ash and flame as the lone figure sat heavily upon the stone archway. Gazing out at the monument to a fallen civilization, Humanity, they sighed in exhaustion.

“Well,” spoke a voice harsh from disuse, like rusted nails through a millstone. “That is the last of them.” Hopping down, the cloaked form stared longingly at the gateway, “I am the last living thing on this tomb. Time to turn out the lights and move on.”

Flipping back the hood, the features of a well-built young man with raven hair and piercing green eyes were revealed to a world long past sight. Staring in covetous loathing at the gateway, he thought of the first time he saw it, “Well, Sirius. I guess it’s time to catch up.”

Stepping through the heavy curtain, Harry Potter; the Boy-Who-Lived, the Man-Who-Conquered, the Last-Man-Standing departed the desolate Earth with a light heart and weary soul.

The sudden impact of another body into his was not exactly what he was expecting.

LONDON, JUNE 18, 1996

“Sirius!” A familiar voice cried as Harry got his bearings. Looking down, he noted his body had a hazy intangibility that made him blink before looking around. Shock filled him as he saw Sirius stagger upright and continue to battle Bellatrix, capitalizing on her shock to send a piercing charm through her forehead.

Sighing, Harry leaned over and plucked the soul from the fallen body, “Damn it. Reaper’s gotta reap, eh?”

Sirius spun around, wide-eyed in the direction of the voice and shook off the odd occurrence before running to the edge of the platform, shifting into Padfoot before taking Lucius Malfoy to the ground, shattering his wrist and wand in the process.

Harry picked delicately through the room before coming face to face with… himself. _“I was so young, then. Young and foolish. I came back and saved Sirius?_ ” Spinning, he stalked back to the now much thinner curtain and peered closer. _“Well fuck me sideways, backward, forward, and up and down while we are at it. Fate’s fucking tapestry is the curtain? Of course, it is. Now… I was thinking about Sirius when I stepped through, and that brought me to when he died? I wonder…”_ Looking in fondness, he saw his friends fighting at his side, _“Maybe one day, I will see them again.”_

Bringing a name to the forefront of his mind, he stepped through once more.

HOGWARTS, JUNE 24, 1995

Shifting through the ether, Harry landed in the center of the Maze and sat down. _“Well, not quite precise, but it’ll do the trick.”_ After a few minutes, he began looking down the passageways he remembered and saw Cedric and himself racing for the trophy. Nodding, he stood and made his way to intercept, and at the last moment placed his foot in Cedric’s path. Turning, he saw Harry dispatch the acromantula and grab the treacherous trophy alone.

Turning back, he eyed the silently swearing Hufflepuff. _“You’ll get over it. One debt repaid.”_

He returned to the silent halls of the Department of Mysteries and sat to have a nice, long think. Hours later, he stood and stretched before turning back to the Veil. _“Right. A few things to even some odds.”_

Mentally ‘grasping’ a lifeline, he followed its path through the Veil and into the past.

HOGWARTS, JUNE 4, 1992

Shifting in, Harry’s heart ached at how small he was as a first-year. Seeing his tiny younger self stagger back from incinerating Quirrellmort, he felt for the loss of one of his few shreds of innocence. As his tiny self had lost consciousness, he noticed a gleaming beacon of energy fall from his hand.

“The bloody Philosopher’s Stone.” His eyes closed as knowledge poured into his head through the ring. _“Son of a bitch. That cowardly shitheel. Righto. No more Life Nexus for you. An alchemical wonder indeed.”_

Hooking his fingers, he snared the glowing form from within the stone causing it to fall into crimson dust, _“No mortal should have this gift.”_

Seeing Albus Dumbledore storm in, eyes wide and a familiar wand extended, he gave a weary laugh at the narrowed eyes spotting the dust. _“Not even you, old man.”_

Stopping to think, he rubbed his face, “And if I accomplish what I want, all of this will be moot. Right. Let’s get this show on the road.”

GODRIC’S HOLLOW, OCTOBER 31, 1981

For the first time that he could remember, Harry was stymied. Hearing the pitched battle within the bottom floor of the Potter Cottage, he gritted his teeth as he pressed against the unyielding wall surrounding the building.

The pressure fell as he heard two words that he loathed more than any other, “AVADA KEDAVRA!” Stumbling in, he saw the tattered robes dripping blood and some strange ichors as the heavily wounded Voldemort approached the stairs breathing hard, “You were… worthy as an opponent, Lord Potter. For that, I will honor Severus’s request for your Mudblood and give him his prize.”

As the Dark Lord stalked towards the stairs, Harry drifted over the peaceful features of James Potter. Seeing a faint glimmer, he lightly nudged his father’s shirt to reveal a glowing green glyph. _“Sowilo… and that color…”_

Looking up, he saw the frantic wand-waving and profuse profanity from the delayed Dark Lord. A voice of impatience, fury, and grudging admiration, Voldemort was still on the bottom step, “Seriously. Who puts a blood-based war ward on every fucking step of their house?”

_“Go Mom. Merlin…”_ Drifting in amusement past the frustrated Dark Lord, he steeled his resolve and entered the nursery.

If the sight of himself at eleven gave him pain, the sight of himself in his crib behind his rather fierce-looking mother was almost agonizing. What gave him pause was the shimmering magic he felt on his toddler counterpart’s forehead echoed on his mother. _“it’s almost like… if one died the others would BOTH be protected. Fuck. What went wrong?!”_

His musings were cut short as he saw another cloaked figure manifest in front of him, staring intently at the child. _“And Destiny is here. Right. Need to not be seen, but his arse isn’t moving. Okay, what went wrong? What went wro-Is that rune merkstaved when it shouldn’t be? Seriously, mum? Instead of one for two, you made it two for one. If you could hear me, you’d so be getting shamed. I should sic Hermione on you.”_

Crouching down, he carefully fixed the rune before standing once more, concealing the modification from view. Clearing his throat, Destiny turned, “You should leave, Death. One must not see their beginnings.”

With a rusty sigh, he leaned against the wall, his foot covering the rune, “You’d begrudge me one of the few chances I have to see my mother at her most glorious?”

The immortals turned as the Nursery door shattered, revealing the furious form of Voldemort, “Step aside, woman, or don’t. I no longer care. I was going to spare you, but you’ve succeeded in angering Lord Voldemort.”

Lily snarled and leveled her wand, “What kind of mother would I be if I allowed that? Bring it, bitch.”

Red eyes narrowed as his wrist shot out a snapped spell, “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

Full of confidence and sheer nerve, Lily lowered her wand and took the spell on the chest. Staggering back, she smirked at the Dark Lord, “Happy Halloween, arsehole.”

Red eyes widened until all they saw was green, and then nothing.

Destiny turned to Death in rage, “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

Grinning widely, Harry uncovered the repaired rune and stepped politely around his mother whose brow was now split revealing the Sowilo rune. With reflexes honed from years of seeking, he snared both the fragment and the loose soul of Voldemort. “I merely made things as my mother intended. He will have a better life than you dreamed of.”

“You interfered with Fate. You… you altered my Book!”

Harry shrugged, “And?”

Destiny’s eyes narrowed, “There are consequences, Death. Even for you.”

Feeling a nauseating tug, Harry’s eyes widened, “What-”

“See you soon, and in a few hundred years, Death.”

NEAR GODRIC’S HOLLOW, AUGUST 17, 1237

“- the fuck?” He said as he landed beside a river. Looking around, he shook his head at the peculiarity of the situation. “Where the hell am I?”

“I say, brothers. That river seems a bit treacherous. Might we, with but a bit of art and artifice, shore up the bridge that we may cross in safety?”

Turning to the sound, he blinked as three oddly dressed men began flicking spells toward the bridge between them. Upon completion, the eldest turned to what Harry presumed to be the youngest, “Good show, Ignotus. We’ll make it home yet.”

_“Fuck me running.”_ When the three made it across, he pulled back his cloak, “Well done, travelers. You have defeated my test.”

LONDON, OCTOBER 31, 2006

“You know, of all the weird shite that happens on Halloween, dueling our former Headmaster was not exactly what I pictured doing, Hermione.”

Hermione turned to look in tired amusement at her flabbergasted husband, “Harry, I know. You’ve only brought it up seven…teen times since you disarmed him.”

Harry rubbed his head, “But I mean, he’s Dumbledore. I know I’m the DADA teacher, but still.”

Wrapping her arms around his bicep, she cuddled in closer on their walk, “Yeah, well. At least it’s a nice weird? I still don’t know why he let you keep his wand.”

“Perhaps I can shed light on that situation,” a rusty voice proclaimed from the alleyway.

Spinning, the pair of Potters pointed their wands down the alley, “Who’s there?”

“Someone who is very tired and longs for peace.” Stepping from the shadows, a figure in tattered robes emerged and pulled back his hood revealing Harry’s own features cast gauntly over the tired frame.

“What kind of trick is this?” Harry growled, stepping defensively in front of Hermione as she began a long protective chant.

“No tricks. It took me centuries to realize why I could not approach you or change circumstances. Without my Hallows, I was but a spectator, seemingly trapped by my situation.”

Hermione paused and stared incredulously, “You are Death?”

“Right in one, Miss Granger. You always were a bright one.”

“Why… do you look like Harry?” She glared; wand leveled.

Death sat down heavily, “Because that was my name once.”

Harry blinked, “So... you’re some future me?”

“Yes and no. I am from this time originally. I was the last living creature on Earth courtesy of the Hallows. I stepped through the Veil of Death to find peace but found myself in the past instead. Using the veil, I surgically altered key tragedies until I reached Godric’s Hollow, 1981.”

Gritting his teeth, Harry growled out, “Then why didn’t you save our father?”

Death hung his head, “I tried, but causality wouldn’t let me alter the inheritance of the first Hallow. While I didn’t receive it until I was eleven, the Cloak was passed from Father to Son. I DID save our Mother by fixing the ritual. Destiny punished me by casting me further back in time to meet the Brothers Peverell, costing me the Hallows and any ability to ‘meddle’. Today, you united them once more.”

“So… you want me to give them to you?”

Death shook his head, “No. I want to move on. I CAN move on, finally. However, being Death is a lonely road. Skipping through time, I managed to figure out how so many plagues and diseases became widespread. The Life Nexus was somehow acquired by a foolish wizard named Nicholas Flamel and encased in a ruby. I acquired it thinking I would restore the balance. Now, however…” He turned to Hermione, “I can do something better. Hermione, if you accept the office of Life as Harry is Death, you will remain together forever. I know what it is like to go the long centuries without you.” He extended a thin hand cupping an almost incandescent ball of light.

Hermione looked at Harry, who was frowning faintly, “So, you’re saying Harry is now Death and thus immortal, and you want me to become Life so we can stay together?”

Death weakly gestured at himself, “Clearly, me without you is no great shakes.”

Harry snorted and nodded in agreement. Looking back at his wife, he shrugged, “Forever?”

“Forever.”


End file.
